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A Friend Strong History
It's Easy!" & The Be A Friend Project
#Be Friend Strong 

Dedicated to a bullied 7-year-old boy living in a foster care group home in New York in the late 1980's. Wherever "Stephen" is today, he inspired this story which became a musical and has grown into a mission.
Upstanders

THE (WAAAAAY) BACK STORY:

Little Stephen was smart, kind and sensitive - and he was the non-stop target of bullying by other kids in the group home for 7-12 year olds who found entertainment in teasing him to tears. Jennifer Young worked evening shifts at the group home and, wanting to comfort Stephen, she made up a special bedtime story just for him about a little boy named "Jed" who was all alone and felt worthless - very much like Stephen. Until one day, Jed discovered he had a magic power... when Jed ran fast down the sidewalk, he would run right into his future self as an adult - a time travel! In that future, Jed would see the happy life he was destined to live and how much love would surround him. These treks into his future filled Jed with enough hope that he could survive the sadness when he returned to his present as an "unwanted" child, again. Every night that Jennifer worked, Stephen asked for this special bedtime story about the time-traveling Jed.

 

It was decades after leaving that job - and Stephen had surely grown into an adult that hopefully did find his worth, happiness and love - that Jennifer wrote down that bedtime story into a middle-grade (as yet unpublished) novel called "THE FUTURE OF JED TRAVIS."

THE BACK STORY:

In 2013, Jennifer Young and January Akselrad, had been in business as creative partners for 4 years already in a company they named SEE THE WISH, founded to educate through entertainment.  They had a line of "classroom plays & musicals that taught curriculum and character" called Dramaterials - Theater Kits created from January's past original works as a Drama Teacher in the Bronx, New York. Motivated to give educators a theater unit on the topic of bullying, Jennifer wrote her first play to add to the Dramaterials line: "The Bully and The Bystanders," which she based on the story of "The Future of Jed Travis." January, the seasoned Playwright of the pair, dug in to add her edits and composed 3 songs: "It's Easy!", "Why Didn't Anyone?" and "What Can I Do." This anti-bullying play with songs became the best selling Theater Kit for See The Wish.

A popular choice among teachers, "The Bully & The Bystanders" was the impetus for the full-length "It's Easy!" and came with 3 songs including "Speak Up, Reach Out" (originally titled from "What Can I Do") which was made into a song video under the direction of amazing summer interns, Ben Weiss and Megan Litt!

Spotlight

The company's theater production arm, See The Wish ONSTAGE, had already produced two original musicals written and composed by January; for the first time, the partners collaborated to write a third, building on "The Bully and The Bystanders." January composed 18 new musical numbers to transform this classroom play into a full-length family musical with 21 songs.  

THE STORY USUALLY GETS TOLD FROM THIS POINT:

In early 2015, the Playwrights collaborated with the Riverdale Rising Stars JR theater program of the Riverdale YM-YWHA in the Bronx, NY, to debut this new, full-length family show re-titled as "IT'S EASY! The Anti-Bullying Musical" as a worldwide premier and a workshop.  

By the end of the 4-show run, the new musical earned nominations for “Outstanding New Musical” and “Outstanding Ensemble” from the National Youth Arts Awards, but it won something even better: the inspiration and hearts of the middle school theater kids that originated the show's 24 characters. The youth cast asked the Playwrights for a way to continue carrying the show's anti-bullying/pro-empathy message off-stage.

Spread the Word

FRIEND STRONG THEATER KIDS!

Six cast members: Andrew Greenspun, Sarah Nerenberg, Tiarra Towns, Ethan Katz, Mollie Ehrenberg and Alexander Iofee signed up for a development focus group. The group developed the idea of "Friend Mail" (because everyone loves getting mail and they wanted to make victims of bullying feel like celebrities getting "fan mail"), the Project's name and - especially important to them - the letter guidelines assuring the safety of all participants and Recipients under-18.  The Be A Friend Project was developed by theater kids to carry into action the musical's "speak up, reach out and be a friend" message - and it's theater kids that continue to drive the national initiative today! By late 2015, the Project launched; the first Friend Mail Recipient was a 12-year-old in New Jersey named "Anthony." He received 75 letters in a tote bag. Today, Recipients recieve on average 1,400 letters, about 30 pounds worth, in a large decorated  bin.

A Broadway World Award-Winning Professional Production!

While the Be A Friend Project, managed by Jennifer Young as an initiative of See The Wish, was collecting letters for its 2nd Recipient in October 2015, the Playwrights workshopped their musical - hiring youth and adult actors for a Theater Lab at the Garrison Depot Theater, NY. Characters, scenes and songs were refined, added and dropped thanks to the performances of these theater professionals, some of whom went on to be cast as leads in the upcoming professional run! The show's tagline was changed from "An Anti-Bullying Musical" to "The Friend Strong Musical" to put a positive spin on the show's message.